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Kenya: Students march for better security

April 7, 2015

Hundreds of students marched through Kenya's capital demanding better security following last week's massacre by al-Shabab militants at a Garissa university. Kenyan authorities presented several attack suspects in court.

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Kenyan university students participate in a demonstration against an attack by gunmen at the Garissa University College campus, along the streets of the capital Nairobi, April 7, 2015.
Image: Reuters/T. Mukoya

Singing, chanting and with some dressed in black to symbolize mourning, about 200 students marched through downtown Nairobi on Tuesday in response to last Thursday's massacre of 148 people at Garissa University College. The attack was claimed by Somalia-based Islamic extremist group al-Shabab.

"We are mourning the loss of our fellow comrades, we have lost the vibrant blood that would have built tomorrow's Kenya," Nairobi University engineering student Maureen Mucheri, 21, told news agency AFP, admitting she was avoiding shopping malls and churches in fear of another attack because "the government is doing nothing."

As they moved through the streets, the protestors shouted "We are not safe" and held signs including one reading "Comrades are tired of al-Shabab."

Passing a truck carrying armed security forces, the protestors shouted "Where were you?" in reference to the fact it took special forces units several hours to reach the Garissa university, about 365 kilometers (225 miles) east of the capital, as the gunmen stormed dormitory buildings and lined up non-Muslim students for execution. The demonstrators also shouted "Where were you?" outside Kenyan police headquarters.

A Student in Nairobi holds a sign proclaiming "We are tired of al-Shabab" and the number 147.
Student protestors denounced al-Shabab. The death toll has been raised to 148.Image: AFP/Getty Images/S. Maina

Some of the protesting students carried flowers while others lit candles in honor of the 148 victims, most of whom were students, as the country prepared to end three days of mourning.

Hours earlier, Kenya carried out airstrikes against al-Shabab in Somalia, near the border with Kenya.

Suspects appear in court

On Tuesday, police presented five Kenyan suspects detained in connection with the Garissa attack to a Nairobi court. They were accused of supplying guns to the four militants who carried out the killings. An additional suspect, a Tanzanian national, was being held in Garissa.

The court agreed to lawyers' requests for an extended detention period of 30 days to allow more time for further investigations before charging them in court.

se/msh (AFP, AP)